The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for capturing, sequestering, storing, disposing of, or entraining carbon dioxide (CO2), such as is found in the air and the environment, as well as for mitigating carbon dioxide emissions. In some aspects of the invention, the CO2 obtained by the methods and apparatuses is isolated and stored or disposed of to keep it from the air.
A serious environmental problem facing the world today is global climate change, i.e., global warming, which has been linked to the increased production of greenhouse gases, namely, carbon dioxide (CO2). Growing evidence details the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the air, the most important of which is CO2, as having an associated role in causing global climate warming. Since 2001, CO2 accounted for over 82% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Nearly 60% of CO2 is emitted by utility or industrial power systems, which are based on fossil fuel combustion. A continuing increase in the greenhouse gas CO2 in the air highlights the need to develop cost effective, reliable and safe methods of CO2 (or carbon) sequestration.
In order for carbon-rich fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, to remain viable and environmentally acceptable energy sources throughout the 21st century and beyond, new technologies that employ capture and sequestration, utilization, or recycling of CO2 need to be developed at reasonable costs. The sequestration of CO2 would allow the use of carbon-based fuels to meet the world's increased energy demands far into the future, without further increasing the atmospheric concentration of CO2. Additionally, for fossil fuels to maintain their predominance in the global energy market, the disposal of CO2 and the elimination of CO2 emissions to the air are ultimate goals for curbing the problem of global warming.
The present invention addresses the pervasive problems of the release and presence of excessive amounts of CO2 in the air and provides solutions to these problems in the form of methods and apparatuses absorbing and desorbing CO2. Advantageously, the present method can eliminate the energy penalty that can result from other implementations of mineral sequestration.